12.23.2014

Apparently Russia's ruble has already bounced back over 33% from it's low a week ago. Odd isn't it...the quick tumble was big news, the mainstream media are oddly quiet about the surge in the value of the Ruble since then. Looks like the market's speculators had started to realize that Russia isn't so isolated then came the news that China’s foreign minister has pledged support to Russia as it faces an economic downturn due to sanctions and a drop in oil prices. Boosting trade in yuan is a solution proposed by Beijing’s commerce minister.

“Russia is an irreplaceable strategic partner on the international stage,” according to an editorial today in the Global Times, a Beijing-based daily affiliated with the Communist Party. “China must take a proactive attitude in helping Russia walk out of the current crisis.” China has by far the largest stash, almost $4 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, 8 times larger than the US's.

China pledges to help Russia overcome economic hardships

Russia only let the ruble ride the speculative whirlwind on Nov. 10th, 6 weeks ago, for the first time in it's long history. Who knows why, a senior's moment maybe. Since that day it has been under attack by the speculators who smelled blood as the price of oil plummeted. They'd be wise IMO to, as soon as it reaches where it used to be, re-lock it in like the yuan is, give the fucking speculators one less currency to prey on.

What the hell is going on here? The oil crisis, if paying less to the gluttons is a crisis, is being caused by two factors.
1. Oversupply by the recent unforeseen fracking glut, not by the media's culprit - OPEC [who's not pumping an extra drop].
2.As famous oilman T. Boone Pickens said this morning, "Oil is down mainly due to weak demand."

T. Boone knows that all commodities are down because discretionary spending is way down in Europe and Japan, consequently there is less demand by manufactures for energy to produce the crap consumers their aren't buying. The US is slightly different in that the top crust are still spending, the credit card weilding ummer driving class is still going deeper in debt, but most Americans are cutting discretionary spending, even Xmas spending, both at the malls and online, is down over 10%.

The Ruble will regain it's strength more slowly than the V shaped bounce above in the coming weeks but the price of oil won't. There is a serious oversupply and the ones who'll be going down first are the oil field supply companies in 'ugly' oil sectors like in the tarsands and global fracking fiascoes, and other 'ugly' oil producers like in Iran, Venezuela and Mexico. Not sure about Iran but in Canada, Mexico and Venezuela almost everyone of those supply and equipment companies has huge loans that they were barely meeting before the plunge, now they're toast. All of those loans are bundled together into investment 'derivatives' that are then bought sold and bet on by insurance derivatives...the domino effect 21st century style.

Russia, China...all the BRICS nations can remain calm and confident that in the long-term slow and steady, not wild and speculative, wins the race.

La Via Campesina is the international movement which brings together millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. It defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity. It strongly opposes corporate driven agriculture and transnational companies that are destroying people and nature.

Sitting Up Mud

"Bokonon made mud. Bokonon said to some of the mud, "Sit up!" "See all I've made, the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."

And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job Bokonon had done.

"Nice going, Bokonon. Nobody but you could have done it, I certainly couldn't have. I feel very unimportant compared to You. The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around. I got so much, and most mud got so little. Thank you for the honor!"

Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep. What memories for mud to have! "What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met! I loved everything I saw! Good night. Amen."

Quotes

"Our dreams draw us foward, as water whispers to the dowser's wand."- Tony Cohan

"Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide." - Tom Robbins

"Politics is how you live your life, not who you vote for!" -Jerry Rubin

"The pencil is mightier than the pen"- Robert Pirsig

"Resist much, obey little." -Walt Whitman

When the axe came into the woods, many of the trees said, “At least the handle is one of us.” — Turkish proverb

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction" - Pascal

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair

Translate

Theism?

Flying Spagetti Monster Church

The single greatest service each of us can provide to our planet, our families and ourselves is to grow our own organic food from heritage seeds. Then to save our own seed in turn, and in so doing be part of the future solution to the present day destruction being sown by GMO's, agri-business and the bio-technology giants. - Bob Wiley